Contact
Aleana Sutton Marketing Manager
Simple Solar
aleana@simplesolar.com
303-541-1504
November 4, 2008
Simple Solar is very pleased to have joined the Zero Carbon Initiative Team in constructing perhaps the most sustainable house in the United States. The Next West House, built in Boulder, Colorado, by Hughes Construction, achieved LEED Platinum status, but according to its developers, this “green” seal of approval is just the beginning. “Platinum” is the highest rating possible for homes under the US Green Building Council’s home rating system, but the Next West house goes far beyond an already progressive standard. This home actually produces more energy than it consumes, and over its lifetime, it will sequester more carbon than it releases. The home is a vivid example of the next step in “green” home design: truly regenerative building.
The solar electric system provided by Simple Solar produces about 10 kilowatts of electricity under good conditions, easily enough energy to run a typical Boulder home. Because the Next West house was designed (Jim Logan Architects) with such extreme energy efficiency in mind, the system produces far more electricity than it consumes, thereby making the home a net energy producer. The excess energy is sold back to the utility, but more importantly, all of the energy produced is renewable and carbon free.
